House Bound

Chapter 5 - Defiance

       The eight hours between ten and six seemed to last a lifetime.

       I couldn't close my eyes, too afraid that I would miss something. I watched the others, I gazed blearily out of the window, I watched the basement stairs as though half expecting a monster to appear from them.

       At eleven o'clock, the lights overhead dimmed, the video feeds altering to adjust to the darkness so that everyone remained entirely visible to the cameras. Even in the darkness, it was impossible to set my mind at ease, or to rest in any capacity. My attention darted from one thing to the next - I jumped at the faintest creak or shudder of the house settling, at any imagined movement in the corner of my eye.

       A few hours after curfew, Jay had finally laid down next to Rocky, appearing to be sleeping with his arm thrown over his eyes. It was enough to reveal Rocky's open and blinking eyes, and his occasional attempt to sit up. He seemed weak, but at least he was alive.

       Though I didn't ever see them communicate, neither through the movement of hands nor lips, the downstairs boys seemed to have figured out a schedule. They took turns, so that after the first hour only one would stay awake watching the screen, while the others slept. It was a smart system, ensuring that they each slept for around seven hours, while one of their group was always alert. I imagined it took a lot of trust between those boys to sleep so soundly in this kind of situation, being utterly sure that the one on guard would report anything of note, or alert the others to a threat.

       The upstairs group all seemed to have drifted off at some point during the night, but I could see the moment they woke up from their fitful sleep, always jolting upright quickly as they remembered exactly where they were.

       No matter how exhausted I was, I still couldn't bring myself to fall asleep. Any time I felt myself drifting, I'd pinch my thigh as hard as I could, until by early morning I had a deep purple bruise blossoming against my pale skin, and all I had to do was prod at it to evoke any pain.

       Even if I could convince myself that I wouldn't miss something important if I closed my eyes, I was afraid, too. I was sure the instant I slept, my nightmares would descend upon my vulnerable mind without mercy. I'd never slept a night away from home in my life, and even there, where I should be my safest, I was plagued with terrors almost every night. My subconscious would have more than enough ammunition, considering the situation, and the current proximity of several of my peers who had spent the last few years endeavouring to make my life a misery.

       At around 5:40 the sun started to rise, filling the room with a dim gray glow. I blinked away from the blue light of the screen, watching as the new light slowly caused shadows to gather across the floorboards from the bars of my cage. My body felt as though it had started to crystallize, and my joints popped and cracked as I pushed myself slowly up to my feet.

      I had to anchor myself with a palm against the wall for a moment while the world span and lurched, a dark haze encroaching upon my vision. Eventually it cleared, and I staggered my way over to the window. I wrapped my right hand around one of the bars, passing my left wrist through the narrow gaps between them to brush my fingertips against the glass of the window. The smooth surface was ice cold to the touch, and I shivered as I imagined how frigid the air must be outside.

       I couldn't hear the noise of a heater anywhere in the house, but it must be heated, or else we'd all be freezing by now. The temperature was comfortably warm, enough so that I could walk around in just my dress without feeling the need to bundle up with more layers.

       Just as I'd anticipated, the sun was rising slowly, sitting low in the horizon. That alone worried me - the sun hadn't risen before seven in the morning lately, but already sky was stirring to life above the deadened landscape. It was too early for the sun to be rising, yet without regard for its usual routine, it was. This only confirmed again that we were far from home.